The Secret Library of Amon
by Loopy777
Summary: Amon shares his favorite books with Lin Bei Fong.


**The Secret Library of Amon**

She was tired.

Lin was so very tired.

It wasn't the fatigue of exertion, of combat. Lin knew that feeling well, and she knew how to power on through it. This was something new, something that went beyond a tired body. It was even worse than the times when there was a crisis, when she couldn't go home, when every hour brought news of someone else dead. Those times, at least, Lin's mother had been alive and there for her. Now, not only was Mum gone, but so was her legacy.

Lin had lost her Earthbending. Amon had taken it from her.

She knew that the fatigue she felt went beyond the loss of such a crucial part of herself. It was the feeling of an ending. Lin's part, for better or for worse, was done.

Why the Equalists wouldn't just let her rot in her prison cell, Lin had no idea.

They came for her in the middle of the night, dragging her out of the Air Temple's basement and out into the open air. They brought her to the ferry, and back over to the mainland. There was a chill that could not be denied, and it wasn't just the weather. Lin could barely stand to look at what Republic City had become. Equalist chi-blockers, mechatanks, and plainclothes activists were flooding the streets. They were going door to door, breaking in when no one would answer, and every so often dragging out someone- their limbs heavy and lifeless in the same way that Lin's whole spirit felt- who screamed promises that they would stop using their Bending if only the Equalists would let them go.

The Equalists never did.

Finally, Lin was brought to a rundown old building in the neighborhood of the Works. The whole block smelled of industrial smog, but within the building itself- it was square and plain and empty, and Lin couldn't guess what it had once been used for- the air was a little cleaner. Lin was just working up the strength to ask what this was all about when she was yanked through a doorway into...

It was a library.

It wasn't like one of the city's libraries, a place where people could borrow books and learn. This was obviously a private collection. The shelves were mismatched and looked like a good kick could have collapsed them. The books themselves were in a variety of conditions, ranging from brand new to being held together with twine. A characteristic they all shared, though, was that at least one bookmark stuck prominently out of the top of each tome.

"I don't like to mark or bend the pages," a gravely, terrifyingly familiar voice said. Lin turned to face the source, and Amon stepped out of the shadows.

For this one, Lin could at least fake the strength she didn't feel. "What do you want, monster?" The thugs' grips on Lin's arms tightened.

Amon himself didn't react, right away. He walked over to one of the bookshelves and ran a hand along the spine of one volume. "I'm rather proud of my collection. Some people read for amusement, or to escape their lives. I suppose, in a way, I myself sought an escape. All of these books have something to say on the nature of freedom and control. Some are focused on developing the self, on establishing control from within. Others are wider in scope, discussing the highest levels of governing. I learned something from all of them."

Lin grunted a, "Hmph," and then added, "If you're looking to sell, I'm not in the market. Go bother someone else."

"Not even this one? Your mother wrote it." Lin blinked in surprise, but Amon still didn't look over at her. "Although, I lie. It is credited to her, but the introduction clarifies that Councilor Sokka did the actual writing, in collaboration with your mother based on her reminiscences. Of course, I'm sure you have your own copy. It's practically required reading for all members of the police."

Lin knew that book. It was a textbook on scamming. It detailed every trick Mum had developed in her youth to use her Earthbending to perpetrate some fraud or another. The book described how to pull of every scam to painstaking precision, and then went on to reveal how to detect each gimmick and turn the trick back on the perpetrator. Lin had learned all those lessons directly from her mother, but she liked how Uncle Sokka had captured Mum's way of speaking. Now that she was gone, reading the book was the closest Lin could get to reliving the memories of her mother's company.

Amon had a copy in his personal library.

"It was very informative, the way it showed how Earthbenders could use their power to trick the common folk. Not a single one of your mother's solutions for detecting the scams could be pulled off by someone who wasn't an Earthbender. This despite Sokka's influence! It goes to show the narrow nature of Benders' thinking, and the machinations of their everyday deceptions. There's something to be said, as well, for it being a study of your mother. Once a scam artist herself, she went on to become the Lord of law and order in this city. Her personality clearly craved domination in all things."

Lin didn't have a retort to that. She was too busy grinding her own teeth into dust.

Amon moved on to another shelf, and drew a book with a plain green cover. "This is another textbook for law enforcement, and quite the collectable. Do you know the name of Long Feng? Your mother conflicted with him, during the Hundred Year War. He was the head of the secret police in Ba Sing Se, and for over two decades managed to completely suppress all talk of the war. It threatened the stability of the city, he reasoned, and not so coincidentally his power base."

"If you're just going to rant like an anarchist all night," Lin said, "then do it to a mirror and let me get some sleep. I don't care about anything you have to say."

Amon's mask shifted, and he might have been looking over at Lin. But then, perhaps he wasn't. "Don't you have an interest in _my_ psychology, Miss Bei Fong? It was by reading these books that I was able to learn what I needed to bring down your corrupt Bender's government. Long Feng, although quite the egomaniac, had some interesting lessons on the subject. This book is a collection of case studies, all taken from his own experiences, in which a single person was able to disrupt the existing order. The one I found the most poignant was the first, in which Long Feng details how the discovery of his own Earthbending powers allowed him to rise out of poverty in the Lower Ring. The lesson is that anyone who can stand out, who has a power or talent greater than most, can use that as an advantage to rise and shake off their shackles. Metaphorically speaking, of course." This time, he turned to face Lin fully, and a shiver traveled her spine at the sight of his cold blue eyes. "That's why I took your Earthbending. That's how I knew that no Bender could be allowed to keep their power."

"I have more than enough power to take that mask and stuff it where Agni don't shine!" Lin tried to pull away from the thugs holding her, but their arms were like- were like metal, the way metal was to everyone else.

The way metal was to Lin, now.

Amon's head tilted slightly, and then he moved to put the book back. "But you don't. Not really. You were so high on your power that you never even thought to develop what else you had. You didn't even have the wit to stop me at the Pro-Bending Arena. That conflict was over before you even realized it began." He moved to another book, and pulled it out for Lin to see the cover, nothing but a golden dragon etched into a white cover. "That's something I learned from the Dragon of the West's book of Wisdoms and Poems. He acknowledged the popular notion that no plan survives contact with the enemy, but goes on to say if one knows his enemy, it is possible to arrange victory _before_ coming into contact, because the enemy will be too late to do anything. It's the basic psychology of the trap, of course."

Lin barked a laugh. "For all your talk about hating Benders, you blowhard, you seem to care a lot about what they had to say."

"Oh, it's quite true. Who else but Benders would know so much about controlling and hurting others?" Amon opened the book, and held it up so that Lin could see some hand-brushed characters on the inside cover. "This copy even has an inscription, and was donated for the use of Iroh's White Lotus compatriots."

Something about that bothered Lin. How had Amon gotten it, then? It didn't feel right, and as a cop (well, former cop), Lin knew to trust her feelings. Too bad feelings didn't often come with signed confessions.

Amon returned the book to its place, and then walked over to a shelf that had just three books on it. They were held up by a pair of bookends that didn't go together, one a carved white abstract shape, and the other a silver badgermole. "This little series is the jewel of my collection, though. Did you know that Fire Lord Zuko's sister Azula wrote a trilogy on the nature of rule? Don't be embarrassed if you didn't. There was just one underground print run, and the books were banned in almost the entire civilized world. Most of the copies were eventually destroyed. These might be the last three still in existence. I found them to be the most inspirational things I ever read. 'The Artifices of Society' showed me the full scale of oppression built into every level of civilization, and it was but a small step to tracing that to the influence of Benders. It changed the way I saw the world, and allowed me to shake off the hood of assumptions that we're taught from the moment we're all born. I can definitely see why this one was banned."

Amon gave a chuckle before continuing. "The second was more of a handbook, 'The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Things.' Not the most creative title, but indisputably apt. Princess Azula had quite that talent, it seems. She described the lateral thinking required to find weak points in both systems and people, and even invented some mental exercises for shedding all sense of restraint, a very necessary quality for striking quickly and destructively. She credits such strategy with allowing her to inflict a mortal injury on Avatar Aang, although she admits that he survived and she couldn't explain how. For a Bender, Azula was refreshingly honest, especially in her final book. That one is a treatise on political philosophy entitled, 'The Princess: Better to Be Loved than Feared.' Azula used an early career of failures to analyze how her enemies were able to defeat her, and wrote quite extensively on how she could have succeeded if she had been in the proper state of mind. It is not a flattering diagnosis, especially compared to the other self-congratulatory books I showed you tonight."

Amon brushed a hand almost reverentially over the three books, and then clasped his hands behind his back and turned to once again face Lin. "Acquiring Azula's works took many years, and everything I learned from the rest of my library. My copies actually came from a hidden library maintained by the White Lotus itself, a collection of banned books that the leaders felt offered great wisdom despite their danger. The same avenue I used to procure that copy of the Dragon of the West's Wisdoms was able to produce this valuable little trilogy. There was risk involved, but I could not have accomplished all that I did today without Azula's lessons. And, for all the danger, I managed to preserve my source without loss. Today wouldn't have been as much of a success without it."

With that, it all clicked for Lin. She felt her jaw drop, but she seized the last of her strength and took control of it back. Despite- yes, despite her _fear_- she managed to stutter, "You mean- you- you infiltrated- the- the White Lotus?"

"Yes."

Lin sagged in the arms of her captors, and she barely heard Amon continue, "It started with just one wise man who saw the truth of the organization's direction, with how it stepped into the light of the world and became just another tool of the power-hungry. It spread from him to others, all them marginalized by the Benders who rose to even greater heights of power with the discovery of Avatar Korra. Even as their warriors defended Air Temple Island, others worked to deliver the prize even you sought to deny me."

It was like lightning had struck Lin where she stood. "_Tenzin!_"

"You didn't think I brought you up here just to discuss books, did you? I can't have old leaders still showing any kind of spirit. I just received word that Tenzin and his children have been captured. They will be brought back to Republic City, and before the grateful masses, I will destroy the Air nation once and for all.

"One down, three to go."

Lin's vision went black, and she struggled to stay conscious. Her last source of strength- her last source of life- had been the knowledge that everything she gave was for the good of a great man, and the beautiful children who would make the world a better place just by being.

No more.

She was tired.

Lin was so very tired.

**END**


End file.
